CMA Investigates Microsoft Over Potentially Misleading Subscription Practices

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently launched an investigation into Microsoft, examining whether the tech giant misled customers about their subscription options.

From January 2025, Microsoft began providing existing Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers free access to new features, including its AI assistant Copilot, for the remainder of their subscription period. At renewal, customers were automatically moved onto a more expensive plan including the new features, unless they actively selected an alternative or cancelled. For ‘Personal’ subscribers, this meant paying £84.99 per year rather than £59.99 under the Classic plan. ‘Family’ subscribers faced a similar uplift, from £79.99 to £104.99. Prior to the auto-renewal, Microsoft offered a time-limited option to switch to a Classic plan, which gave consumers access to the same features they had access to before the changes, at the same price.

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